


By the fire's light

by asterismal (asterisms)



Series: And now I seek for warmth [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Gen, Harry Potter is a Horcrux, Implied Relationships, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-20 20:46:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16562855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterisms/pseuds/asterismal
Summary: In which the year is 2096, the Dark Lord has opened his manor to the public, and Karena Zabini has snuck away from the ball, dragging a reluctant Leonidas Malfoy with her.When they stumble across a warded door, they expect to discover ancient treasure and the darkest of artifacts.What they find is a portrait.A response to the prompt: Fireplace, fear, and painting





	By the fire's light

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [By the fire's light || Spanish Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17719520) by [FuriousBeatrice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuriousBeatrice/pseuds/FuriousBeatrice)



Being invited to the annual Yule Ball is an honor, doubly so when it’s hosted at the manor of the Dark Lord. Karena knows this, her parents have made sure of it, but it’s not enough to keep her from feeling bored out of her mind as she sits with the other children, all proper and pretty in her new dress robes.

Thankfully, no one is paying any attention to her or the other children, so when she sees Leonidas Malfoy enter through the grand doorway with the rest of his family, she seizes the opportunity and runs with it. Literally.

 

Which is why she’s now skulking around the empty halls of the large manor house, her timid friend in tow.

“We should go back.”

Rolling her eyes, Karena looks back at her partner in... crime? No, partner in adventure. That sounds better. He’s looking around nervously, as if he expects the Dark Lord himself to leap out of the wallpaper and catch them at any moment.

“I’m serious, Karena. What if we get caught?”

“Don’t be such a baby, Leo,” she answers, though she keeps her voice low just in case. “Everyone’s back in the main hall. We’ll be fine.”

Leo falls silent for a few blessed minutes, but eventually, he feels the need to nag once more.

“Honestly, Karena, what do you expect to find, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” she says petulantly. “Something less boring than sitting in some stupid room with all those stuffy old people, that’s for sure.”

“Those _stuffy old people_ are some of the most important people in all of Europe,” Leo tells her. “We should feel honored to have been invited alongside them.”

What he means is that _she_ should feel honored, she thinks bitterly.

While the Malfoy family has been at the Dark Lord’s side for over a century, according to the history books she managed to get her hands on during the most recent time she snuck into her mother’s study, the Zabini family only joined his loyal host when her grandfather took the mark. Before that, they were decidedly neutral, and everyone is always so keen to remind her.

“I don’t care,” she says, and it’s mostly the truth.

“You’ll have to someday.” Karena can’t help but glare, and Leo huffs impatiently at her. “You know it’s true. Your grandmother named you heir, which means it’s your responsibility to grow your family’s honor, and the people back in that hall will be the ones who help you do it.”

“I _said_ I don’t _care_ ,” she says with a vicious scowl.

Before Leo can reply, she sprints down the hall, holding the bunched up fabric of her dress robes in her fists so she doesn’t trip. But Leo refuses to be left behind. He runs after her, and although she was the one to drag him with her in the first place, she feels resentment curl deep inside her, though she shoves it away as best she can.

She doesn’t stop running until she reaches a hallway with a dead end.

Leo catches up a few moments later, and she takes some satisfaction in the fact that he’s gasping for breath. Last time she made fun of him for it, he’d stuck his nose in the air and told her that Malfoys don’t run, they _stride_ , so of _course_ he’s not used to rocketing around like some common _hooligan_. Just the thought of it make her smile.

“What was that for?” he demands.

“I was mad,” she says with a shrug. If the brief exercise hadn’t helped her work through her anger, the petulant glare he sends her would have definitely made her feel much better.

“Well, next time, don’t run off.” He looks around at the empty hall. “Where are we, anyway.”

“I don’t know.”

She looks down the hall toward the blank wall at the end, and a shimmer in the air makes her look harder. She takes a hesitant step forward, reaching back to catch Leo’s hand in hers and dragging him with her.

“Look at that,” she says, pointing toward the wall that probably isn’t so blank, after all.

“At _what_?” Leo asks, tugging weakly at his hand in hers. She holds tighter, refusing to let him back out now that they’ve actually found something.

“There’s a ward there. It’s blocking the wall. Can’t you see it?”

“You know I can’t, Karena. Why do you always do this?”

“It’s not my fault I’m curious,” she says as she hurries closer. “If people don’t want me going on adventures to find things, they should stop making things worth finding.”

“Nott was right,” Leo says, letting out an exasperated huff. “You’re definitely headed for Gryffindor.”

“So? Nott’s a bore. Who cares what he says.” She stands straighter, looking down at her friend in the way that always makes him pout at the reminder that he’s smaller than she is. “And anyway, I think I’d do quite well in the house of the brave.”

“You mean the house of the _stupid_.”

“Be nice, Leo. I think it’s a fine house.”

“Yeah. _You_ would.”

Karena rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the ward shimmering in the air before her. Her mother would be furious if she knew what she was up to, but her mother’s not here, so she can do as she pleases.

She reaches out to touch it. Leo grabs her wrist before she can.

“Wait,” he says, though he sounds somewhat reluctant to do so. “We shouldn't be here. We need to go back.”

Karena shakes off his hold and whirls to face him, planting her hands on her hips.

“How can you say that?” she demands. “We’ve just found a hidden room in the house of the Dark Lord. Can you imagine what might be behind these wards?”

“I can, actually.” He frowns, looking far too serious, though she can tell he wants to give in, at least a little bit. “Can _you_ imagine what would be done to us if we’re caught?”

“Oh, please,” Karena says as she rolls her eyes. “He can’t punish you _that_ bad. He’d lose the support of your family as soon as he tried, and you know it.”

“Maybe. But that doesn’t help _you_ ,” Leo points out, still looking skeptical. Karena feels a thrill of victory. The fact that he hasn’t just gone back without her by now tells her all she needs to know.

“Of course it does,” she says with a winning smile. “I’ll just tell everyone how you dragged me here and made me take down the ward in spite of my many protests. I’m very good at crying, you know. They’ll all believe me.”

Leo sighs heavily, because he knows she’s right, and finally gives in.  

“Alright, fine.” He crosses his arms before letting a reluctant smile show. “I guess I am a little bit curious.”

“That’s what I thought,” Karena says, laughing as she gets ready to take down the ward.

She still doesn’t know exactly how or why her gift works, her mother refuses to let her great-aunt teach her until she’s at least thirteen, but she knows enough to use it now. When the wards finally fall beneath her touch, the image of a blank wall melts away, revealing a plain-looking door without even a simple lock on the handle.

She shares a gleeful grin with Leo and pushes the door open.

They stand at the threshold for a few moments, waiting to see if anything will happen. When nothing jumps out at them, they enter the dark room.

Thanks to the heavy warding on the door, she was hoping to find a room piled high with artifacts and treasures, like a glorified Gringotts vault. Instead, what awaits them is a plain, almost empty room. In fact, the only thing that might be at all interesting is a portrait of a man on the far wall, hanging above an empty fireplace.

She can’t contain her disappointment.

“A portrait,” she says with a groan. “That’s so boring!”

At her voice, the figure in the portrait turns to look at them, a glare on its face.

When he sees them standing in the doorway, however, the glare melts away, and he looks surprised instead.

“Oh,” the man says. “Hello. You’re not supposed to be here.”

She thinks the man says something more, but she's too caught off guard by his appearance to pay attention to whatever he might be saying.

The man in the portrait is young, with a mess of thick, black curls atop his head. Shattered across his face is a scar like lightning, stark white against his golden brown skin, just a few shades lighter than her own. What stands out the most, however, is the color of his eyes. She’s never seen eyes so green, so bright they seem to shine in the light coming through the open doorway.

She takes an involuntary step forward, and Leo’s hand in hers is the only thing keeping her by the door. Tearing her eyes from the strange man, she looks to see Leo staring at the portrait, just as enraptured as she felt by the sight.

The man in the portrait sighs at them.

“At least close the door behind you,” he tells them.

Karena lets go and the door swings shut, leaving them in momentary darkness before the fireplace roars to life and a few lamps along the walls begin to emit a soft glow, casting the room in golden light.

She pulls Leo forward, and he follows with stumbling steps.

“Who are you?” she demands, though her voice is not as firm as she’d have liked.

“Who are _you_?” he parrots in reply.

“That’s not an answer,” she says sharply.

Before she can continue, Leo starts tugging at her sleeve.

“This portrait isn’t normal,” he says urgently when she finally looks back at him. “We should leave.”  

“Your friend’s right, you know,” the portrait says. He watches them with a narrow gaze. “Does _he_ know you’re here?”

“Maybe,” Karena says, sticking her nose in the air in her best imitation of confidence. “Now tell us who you are.”

“Karena,” Leo hisses in protest. She squeezes his hand in hers in an attempt to be reassuring.

“You don’t want us here, right? Well, if you tell us, we’ll leave.” She doesn’t mean it, of course, but it gets Leo to stop fretting, at least.

“We both know that’s not true” the man in the portrait replies.

Leo seems to find his courage, then, because he takes a step so he’s standing at Karena’s side rather than hovering anxiously at her back. Apparently, he’s decided that since he won’t be able to convince her to leave, he may as well play along.

“You will tell us,” Leo says. As much as Karena gets annoyed whenever he tries to use his ‘I’m a Malfoy’ voice on her, it usually works on other people. Unfortunately, this portrait isn’t one of them.

“Oh, will I? And why’s that?” the portrait asks.

Leo is glaring at the portrait now. He crosses his arms, sticks his nose in the air, and says, “Because in the name of the Dark Lord, I command you to.”

The portrait just laughs at him.

Normally, this is the moment when Karena would step in to bully their opponent into letting Leo have his way, but it’s difficult to bully a portrait when you can’t actually do anything to it.

“And who are you to speak in his name?” the portrait asks once he’s calm again, though he still looks amused.

“We are his loyal servants,” Leo says proudly.

“He’s recruiting children, then, is he? You don’t even look old enough to have a wand.”

Karena feels herself blush.

Leo puffs up beside her.

“My family has been serving the Dark Lord for generations.”

Before he can say anything else, the portrait nods and says, “A Malfoy, then. Yes, I thought so.” He looks at Karena. “And you... You look very much like- Zabini?”

“Yes,” she says, caught between pride and suspicion. Clearly the portrait is familiar with both of their families, but she’s never known anyone who looks like him. “Now tell us who you are.”

“Alright, alright,” the portrait concedes. “But only because this is the most entertainment I’ve had in…” He trails off, looking pensive and almost sad before shaking his head sharply. “In a very long time.”

“Well?” Karena prompts when he doesn’t continue, too curious to let his mood get in the way of her answers.

The portrait watches them for a moment longer, considering. Then, he seems to come to a decision.

“My name is Harry,” he says. “Harry Potter.”

Karena frowns. She’s been trained since she was old enough to read in learning the family trees of the most important wizarding families, but she doesn’t recognize the name. There used to be a Potter family, of course, but the main line ended over a century ago with a tragic accident that lead to the death of James Potter, who died before having any children. Which means the man in the portrait is either a bastard or a muggleborn, and neither seem worthy of having a portrait in the manor of the Dark Lord.

“Well, I haven’t heard of you,” she says. “Why would the Dark Lord have your portrait if you weren’t important?”

Leo hums in thought and asks, “Were you friends?”

The man in the portrait chokes out a strangled laugh.

“No,” he says, and he sounds- She doesn’t know how he sounds. She doesn’t know the words to describe his voice in this moment. “No, we weren’t friends.”

“Lovers, then,” Leo says with a decisive nod. “That explains it.”

The portrait’s response is loud and immediate.

“Lovers?” he repeats, sounding both incredulous and disgusted. Karena doesn’t understand why he looks so offended. “Why on earth would you thinks _that_?”

“It doesn’t seem that strange,” Karena says, annoyed on Leo’s behalf.

“Yeah,” Leo adds, “I bet loads of people want to be lovers with him.”

“You’re a child," the man says flatly. "What would you know about it?”

“I'm not a _child,_ " Leo says, stomping his foot. "I'm going to be eleven in less than a year! And anyway, my mother says he’s charming.”

“Yeah and _my_ mother says he’s handsome,” Karena adds.

But the portrait isn’t looking at them anymore.

“Charming and handsome?” a new voice says, and Karena freezes, feeling as if her heart has fallen right out of her chest and onto the floor at her feet. She thinks she might pass out. “Are we talking about me?”

She whirls to face the door and feels the blood drain from her face when she sees the Dark Lord standing before them. The sight of him, the feel of his magic, makes her drop into an almost involuntary bow, and if her legs are shaking, she thinks she can be excused for her lapse in control.

When she glances his way, Leo looks just as bad as she feels. She thinks he might even cry.

“Obviously not,” the portrait says, sounding entirely unaffected by the sudden appearance of the most powerful man alive. “What are you doing here?”

The Dark Lord pays them no mind as he walks to stand closer to the portrait, so they both rise and move slowly to the Dark Lord’s right, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention but feeling the need to keep both the Dark Lord’s face and the portrait in view. After all, the best way to stay out of danger's path is to see it coming, as her aunt likes to tell her.

As she fights to keep her breathing quiet and her body still, Karena thinks absently that she really should listen to Leo more often.

“The wards are gone,” the Dark Lord says once he comes to a stop before the portrait. “You always did promise to break them one day. Did you succeed?”

Karena frowns, confused enough that it distracts her from her mind-numbing panic. Portraits can’t use magic. Why would the Dark Lord think this one can?

When the portrait just glares at the Dark Lord, not answering, Karena takes a small step forward, steeling herself for what she’s about to do. He'll discover that she was the one who broke the wards eventually. After all, if her parents are right (and they're always right), the Dark Lord always knows. So she may as well get the punishment over with now rather than leave herself in suspense, waiting for the day she’s found out.

“It was me, My Lord,” she says, her eyes glued to the carpet. She does her best to keep her voice from shaking, but she isn’t very successful. “I broke the wards.”

“Is that so,” the Dark Lord says, turning to face her. She doesn’t look up, but she can feel the weight of his attention sharpening on her. She fights not to sway in place. “And how did you manage that?”

“I have a talent for wards.” She decides to speak as plainly as possible. The sooner she’s done, the faster he’ll look away. “Mother says I got it from her side of the family.”

“Ah, yes. Accalia Zabini, correct?”

“My great-aunt.” When she gets no response, she risks speaking unprompted once more. “I will accept whatever punishment you give me, My Lord.”

The Dark Lord hums in acknowledgment, but says nothing more. 

When she risks a peek, she sees that he isn’t even looking at her. Instead, he’s turned to watch the portrait once more. When she follows his gaze, she sees the man, Harry Potter, she reminds herself, watching her with worry clear in his expression before he turns to glare at the Dark Lord, even fiercer than before. After a moment of holding each other’s gaze, the Dark Lord nods slowly.

“No punishment is necessary, I think,” he says eventually.

Karena feels almost lightheaded with relief.

Then Leo opens his mouth.

“I thought the punishment for trespass was severe,” he says, like an idiot. Karena immediately whirls to glare at him, feeling betrayed. Leo blushes when he sees that all eyes are on him. The portrait looks exasperated. The Dark Lord just looks amused.

“Yes, well, no harm was done. This time, at least. Regardless,” he adds, waving a hand dismissively, “I am not in the business of torturing children.”

The man in the portrait scoffs, and the Dark Lord smiles.

“Something to say, dearest?” he asks.

“ _Don’t_ call me that.”

“But it’s true,” the Dark Lord says, placing a hand on his heart, “There is nothing more dear to me.”

Leo nods and whispers to himself, “Lovers.” Karena bites back a hysterical giggle.

Harry Potter rolls his eyes, and Karena finds herself in reluctant awe of this man who can be so bold right to the Dark Lord’s face. And he does it without flinching, too. Sure, he’s just a portrait, so it’s not like the Dark Lord can really do anything to him if he’s displeased, but all the other portraits she’s seen have been just as respectful as those who are living.

Who could he have been, to be so free from decorum? To have so much power that he can speak as he pleases?

Does he even know the power he has?

It doesn’t matter, she decides as she watches the Dark Lord watch him.

One day, she’s going to be just like Harry Potter.

However important this decision may feel to her, however, the conversation moves on, paying no heed to the way her world has shifted.

“Well, Miss Zabini confessed," Harry Potter says, his voice as dry as bone, when it looks like the Dark Lord really is content to just stand there in silence and look at him. “You have your answer. Feel free to leave.”

“And leave your sight? I could never,” the Dark Lord says, sounding almost playful, and she wonders if she might be hallucinating.

“Oh, fuck off," is all the man in the portrait says in response.

It's a startling enough reply that Karena gasps before hurriedly clasping her hands over her mouth.

When she looks over at Leo, she sees he’s gone pale at the disrespect. No one speaks to the Dark Lord that way. No one except Harry Potter, apparently, and she feels a burning curiosity and, even stronger, the ever growing desire to be just as bold, one day. And on that day, she vows to herself, she'll be so strong, so important, that no one, not even her grandmother, will ever again tell her to be pretty or proper or to respect her betters. 

Hearing her gasp, the Dark Lord turns to them once more, looking almost surprised, as if he’d forgotten they were there.

“You must forgive him,” the Dark Lord tells them with a smile. “He’s been hiding away in here for so long, he seems to have forgotten his manners.”

“Hiding?” the man asks waspishly. “Hiding implies I’ve chosen to be here.”

“Haven’t you?” the Dark Lord says.

Karena tilts her head in confusion at the turn this conversation has taken. It’s not as if a portrait chooses to be made, after all.

“You made your decision,” the Dark Lord continues.

“That’s not what I’d call it.”

When she looks, she sees Leo staring intensely at the carpet, pretending not to hear anything. Karena isn’t sure how he manages it. She has to fight to look away, far too fascinated to be healthy now that the danger seems to have passed.

She’s never seen the Dark Lord act this way before. Well, she’s never seen the Dark Lord before at all, but that’s beside the point. She’s never heard of him acting this way.

“You had a choice,” the Dark Lord says softly, imploringly, reaching up as if to touch the man in the portrait. “You still have it.”

The portrait stares, blank faced, before shooting a hard look to where she's standing with Leo. The Dark Lord turns to them again and smiles charmingly.

“But of course, this conversation is not for the ears of children.” He rests a hand over his wand holster, and Karena wonders if they’re about to be obliviated. But after glancing the portrait’s way once more, he folds his hands behind his back. “Cepha,” he calls.

A house elf pops into the room.

“How may I serve, My Lord?”

“Would you escort the children back to the main hall?”

“Of course, My Lord,” the elf says with a bow.

As they’re ushered out of the room, the last thing Karena sees is the Dark Lord reaching for the portrait once more. This time, the man in the portrait is reaching back.

 

Although he protests, Karena manages to coerce a promise of secrecy out of Leo by the time they arrive back to the main hall, so her parents never discover the details of her adventure. Because of this, when her family receives an invitation to the Yule Ball the following year, she’s allowed to accompany them.

In the time since their encounter, she’s spent much of her days thinking about the man in the portrait, about Harry Potter and whatever his relationship to the Dark Lord might be, and as soon as the arrival of Leo's family is announced, she rushes to find him. For once, he looks just as excited at the potential for mystery and adventure as she feels, which means all of the efforts she's made to corrupt him this past year have been more successful than she'd dared to hope. Just as she’s about to tell him her plan to find the portrait again, however, she stops and stares at the doors of the hall.

Apparently, there’s no need to go searching.

 

The Dark Lord has arrived, in all his glory, and the man from the portrait is at his side.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm playing with the idea of writing more from the perspective of Harry and/or Voldemort to describe the events before and immediately after this fic, but most of my time is devoted to my project for nano atm so idk. if you think you might want more, let me know and i'll make time to write it
> 
> you can find me on tumblr either on my side blog [being-luminous](https://being-luminous.tumblr.com/) (which is mostly just fic updates and the occasional post for now) or my main blog [asterismsinyoureyes](http://asterismsinyoureyes.tumblr.com/)


End file.
